The Bethenici (also Bethenzi or Bechelenzi) were a West Slavic people living east of the Elbe river in the ninth century.
They lived near the confluence of the Elbe and the Havel, probably between the rivers alongside the Smeldingi.
[1] In 811, according to the Chronicle of Moissac, the Frankish emperor Charlemagne dispatched an army of Franks and Saxons across the Elbe against "those Slavs, who are called Linai and Bechelenzi.
[3] The Annals of Aniane, which are related to the Chronicle of Moissac, use the spelling Bethenzi.
[5] The Bethenici are mentioned in the Catalogue of Fortresses and Regions to the North of the Danube, which was produced at the court of the Frankish king Louis the German between 844 and 862.